Continuous data protection (“CDP”), also called continuous backup, generally refers to the backup of data on a computer by automatically saving a copy of every change made to that data. While traditional backup solutions take a snapshot of the files or data on a computer at a specific time, CDP essentially captures every new version of the data saved on the computer in real-time. CDP may be performed at the file-level or the device-level. Device-level CDP generally allows a user or administrator to roll back the entire state of the device, such as a disk drive, to any point in time, while file-level CDP may allow a user to view and select a specific version of a particular data file to restore.
File-level CDP is typically implemented through a service executing on a computer that monitors specified files and folders stored on local or remote storage volumes. When a monitored data file is changed, the new, modified version of the file is copied to a backup location. Saving multiple versions of protected files may provide administrators with the ability to recover a precise version of a data file given a requested recovery date and time. However, while each new version of a data file may only differ from the previous version by a small amount, traditional file-level CDP solutions may backup an entire copy of the modified version of the file. As a result, a small data file stored on the storage volume may occupy a disproportionately large amount of space in the backup location.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.